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iBooks Textbook Sales: Authors Set Pricing Up to $14.99, Apple Takes 30%, iBooks-Exclusive
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apple is giving you free software
go check the price of adobe cs super duper premium version and then complain
I like it...
Easier to write a book than a program, so dumbs down the process that would allow any instructor that has developed their own classroom materials to make a profit with. If they do not know how to do the process, they can get someone who can to teach them. There is probably a market now to buy these off a teacher, and publish them yourselves with a contract setup that transfers their IP to you. Should be interesting. Bet there is going to be a lot of lawsuits against iBook publishers over copywrite from some of the bigwig companies too if just anyone can put digital ink to cyberspace and make a buck. Might even be worth auditing some classes for coursework material development, getting the main lessons an instructor uses down. Even aides who do a lot of their own development for instructors could make some cash.
Easier to write a book than a program, so dumbs down the process that would allow any instructor that has developed their own classroom materials to make a profit with. If they do not know how to do the process, they can get someone who can to teach them. There is probably a market now to buy these off a teacher, and publish them yourselves with a contract setup that transfers their IP to you. Should be interesting. Bet there is going to be a lot of lawsuits against iBook publishers over copywrite from some of the bigwig companies too if just anyone can put digital ink to cyberspace and make a buck. Might even be worth auditing some classes for coursework material development, getting the main lessons an instructor uses down. Even aides who do a lot of their own development for instructors could make some cash.
So one group of people says this will fail because the books are too cheap and the publishers won't make enough money, and others say this will fail because the books are too expensive because the schools have no money to buy books. Great.
$200 is revenue not profit
take out all the sales commissions, distribution costs of multiple distributors and other nonsense and it's not that much.
And 99% of the book will be text and pictures only. Top it off you forgot about the kindle fire, the nook color and the fact that both have apps that run on all platforms. I fully expect to see Amazon and Barnes & Nobel to copy this idea. The difference is with those two the books would not be trapped on a single platform. Apple might have 2-3 months to really have full control over this and that's is because Amazon and B&N offer a much better distribution network.
Come on knowing Apple there is something in the eul that prevents that and when the person is caught there stuff would be taken out of iBookstore in a heart beat.
This.
Schools can barely afford to pay the teachers.
Teachers these days have to pay for their own classroom supplies out of their own pockets.
Buying iPads, even at a discounted price, for every student is a non-starter.
Very few public schools have the funds for these types of purchases.
My daughter's classroom has 4 iPads (1st gen) and 4 iBooks (yes, old G4 iBooks) to share in a class with 24 kids.
They only got these because they are the honors kids.
Apple's hardware is cost prohibitive with today's school budgets to provide hardware for each student.
What is it with people still going on about the 30% cut that Apple take?
The percentage of sale price on physical media (books, cd, dvd) that publishers don't get is far higher than 30% - manufacturing, distribution, retail mark up, returns and so on. They don't get anywhere near the 70% that Apple gives them, so it's an excellent deal from their point of view.
It's not even massive profiteering on Apple's part either, once all their costs are accounted for they will end up with a lot less than the retail markups on physical media.
Not sure why people are moaning about the exclusivity either. All Apple are saying is that if you use iBooks to create a digital book and you want to charge for it then you have to sell it through them. Nothing stopping you from taking the content and publishing it in another format and selling it elsewhere.
The percentage of sale price on physical media (books, cd, dvd) that publishers don't get is far higher than 30% - manufacturing, distribution, retail mark up, returns and so on. They don't get anywhere near the 70% that Apple gives them, so it's an excellent deal from their point of view.
It's not even massive profiteering on Apple's part either, once all their costs are accounted for they will end up with a lot less than the retail markups on physical media.
Not sure why people are moaning about the exclusivity either. All Apple are saying is that if you use iBooks to create a digital book and you want to charge for it then you have to sell it through them. Nothing stopping you from taking the content and publishing it in another format and selling it elsewhere.
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In Richmond, VA my sons kindergarten class (16 kids) has 5 iPads. All middle/high-schoolers are given laptops. Soon enough they'll be an iPad in every backpack. Sweet!
In Richmond, VA my sons kindergarten class (16 kids) has 5 iPads. All middle/high-schoolers are given laptops. Soon enough they'll be an iPad in every backpack. Sweet!
Keep underestimating Apple. In a few years all major textbooks will be on iBooks and and the haters who poo-pooed the concept in early 2012 will be very embarrassed. Apple revolutionizes society - once again. This move definitely has Jobs stamp all over it, one of his last product initiatives.
Authors can set pricing. But it HAS to be no more than 14.99. That's not really allowing authors to set pricing. And it also caps their profit margin.
Further - the exclusivity aspect of this stinks. If authors (text book authors) only are able to publish their text books with Apple - then schools would be "forced" to only use iPads and not have any alternatives. That's bad. Not for Apple - but for schools and students.
As I said in the live thread - Apple is a business and they answer to stock holders. Schools answer to tax payers. Big difference. And anyone that thinks that Apple is in it for altruistic reasons is kidding themselves. The model they are setting up is rather unsettling.
Further - the exclusivity aspect of this stinks. If authors (text book authors) only are able to publish their text books with Apple - then schools would be "forced" to only use iPads and not have any alternatives. That's bad. Not for Apple - but for schools and students.
As I said in the live thread - Apple is a business and they answer to stock holders. Schools answer to tax payers. Big difference. And anyone that thinks that Apple is in it for altruistic reasons is kidding themselves. The model they are setting up is rather unsettling.
next county/school board meeting
ok parents buy ipads and books for your kids or see your taxes go up $1000 next year.
easy choice
Hopefully we wont see Chapter 1: $14.99, Chapter 2 $14.99, Chapter 3 $14.99 etc.
How different is that, really, from Grade 10 $14.99, Grade 11 $14.99, Grade 12 $14.99 etc...
If you don't see the difference - you should go back to remedial math. There's a difference between 14.99 for a CHAPTER and 14.99 for a YEAR of material.
It is all about upfront costs. Folks will see that for a school district of say 200000 high school students they all of a sudden have to spend ~100 million on iPads then ~3 million per textbook.
Replacing a lost or destroyed textbook is far cheaper than replacing a lost or destroyed iPad...
You also don't have to service a text book. And last time I checked - very few thieves STOLE high school text books to sell on the grey market
At first blush, this appears true.
However, most cities/towns actually haven't reduced education budgets (even given the tough economy) because there really isn't anything to cut. Salaries make up the biggest portion and union contracts typically stipulate salaries for the length of the contract (2-3 years out). Most of the fighting you hear in newspapers and media is about taxpayers voting down education budget increases (most of the time, the voters will approve a flat education budget).
I wouldn't think of iPad purchases as requiring additional money from taxpayers (because that would most likely not happen). Instead, it would involve a shuffling of funds within the education department.
Prime examples:
- Science department may decide to allocate $25,000 for 50 iPads (to be used in labs) instead of a series of books (with useless CDs) that they routinely buy for 200-400 students.
- Business department may apply for grants that can make it possible to buy 25 iPads for an after school program.
The average district spends $100s/year per pupil on textbooks. Sure, going out and buying iPads for every student will require some forward-thinking people who can see that if you can cut a few $100 on textbooks costs, it may be cost effective buying iPads, but it will require studies, time, and discussion.
When iPad 2 is sold for $399, it will make things a little easier as well.
The fact that people think this is about textbooks is funny. Looking at it the textbook part was to make you think that it is about education but really it has nothing to do with it. The entire thing and pricing is about getting author able to publish there own minor works and short stories and so on. If it has any effect on textbooks it will be negative as they will break the book up in to 14.99 chapters. This will quickly add up to more than what the book cost.
Depends entirely on how one defines "chapter".
The structure and organizational principle is the same, the only potential difference is cost.